Chapter IX

Hello all, it is time for yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and you all hopefully enjoy this chapter. Be sure to post a review if you do. As per usual I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the story past, present, and future. So, shall we move on to the reviewer responses?

Jalis: I'm glad to hear that. Cool, I was worried that maybe some sections of the body switch might get a little too absurd, glad you enjoyed it. Yes. To each other at least. Well... no, he's not. At this point? Seventeen. And that's just at this point in the story, it'll be growing later. Pandora is from Campione and Naoya, at least his appearance, is from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. Grimoire Heart was supposed to be the strongest, but the anime made it evident Tartaros was the strongest. And Demon Card is the strongest at least in sheer size. If you've read anything of Rave you'd know they span several continents.

Ilikebedtimestories: Good to hear!

gwb620: I think, or at least presume, most people do.

hornofdesolation: Thank you. As mentioned above, Pandora isn't an OC. She's from the anime Campione, and is the same as her mythological fiction. Mostly.

Well that appears to be it for reviewer responses. Quite a few this time, which is always a pleasure. Keep them coming, people! I love it when people tell me their opinions of my stories, not so much when those opinions are negative but I can, normally, take it if there is a point. Moving on, enough about me, you people are here for the story.

"Nnnooo!" Ur bellowed in horror. "My daughter is a delinquent! Having a Council job and taking it seriously! Where did I go wrong?!"

Ultear snarled in annoyance. "How is that a bad thing?!"

"It's a horrid thing! Council's are horrendous things!"

"A – Ahem," Makarov interrupted with a cough, "so, Madam Councilor, why are you here?"

"First," Ultear started with irritation before grabbing Makarov's ear tightly, "don't call me madam. Second, I'm here to make a report."

Makarov gulped in terror as he rubbed his ear. "R – Report…?" The Council's reports never led to anything positive, something Makarov knew by heart.

"Yes. The other Councilors wanted a report done on the Galuna Island incident."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "But you were th –" he began only for Ultear to slap a hand over his mouth.

Ur then suddenly exclaimed drunkenly, "Lick your girlfriend's hand, Natsu!"

Almost immediately Ultear shivered violently before curling her hand into a fist and slamming it down atop Natsu's head.

Ur gasped in shock. "Ul! You don't hit your boyfriend like that! You use a whip!"

Ultear gained a tic mark on her forehead as she raised her clipboard, leading almost immediately to Ur lying on the floor with a smoking welt on her head.

"Look at the pretty Ul shaped stars…" Ur muttered deliriously.

Ultear groaned heavily in frustration. "Let's just do the report…"

"Very well then," Erza agreed with a nod.

Sometime later, after interviewing the others involved with the incident in a closed-off room away from the rest of the guild, Ultear stepped out and called, "Okay, one last interview. Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu followed Ultear into the room and the interview, which Natsu found to be surprisingly simple, was completed rather swiftly. It was what followed that surprised him.

"Okay, now the main reason I came here," Ultear noted as she closed a book in her hands.

Natsu blinked curiously. "Huh? Is it another package for Meldy?"

Ultear nodded in reply. "Exactly."

"Cool. I get to see how your friend is doing."

"Friend… right." After a moment she handed Natsu a small box. "Same place as before."

"Got it," Natsu answered before furrowing his brow in thought. "Does she have a sweet tooth?"

Ultear blinked in confusion and surprise, not expecting such a question. "Come again?"

"Meldy. Does she like sweets?"

Ultear's confused expression persisted. "I… think… Why?"

"So I can get her a treat when I go deliver this."

"I see… That's fine, I suppose." After a moment of thought, Ultear added, "Actually, yes, do that."

"Got it!" Natsu replied with a wide grin. "Now… what to get her…?"

"Try something with strawberries or a confectionary."

Natsu nodded appreciatively. "Thanks. I'll get her a strawberry cheesecake then. Erza always likes them."

Meldy sighed as she leaned against a tree, waiting silently. She immediately jumped in surprise, with a slight yelp, as Natsu landed nearby from the trees above.

Natsu blinked curiously and then smiled. "That was kind of a cute reaction."

Meldy blinked curiously before frowning. "Don't call me that."

"Huh?" Natsu asked, confused. "Why?"

"I am not 'cute'. I am a weapon?"

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "Weapon? You look like a cute girl to me."

Meldy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, her face reddening slightly. "Just give me the package."

Natsu nodded and handed the small box to her. "Here. Also," he began before handing another, slightly larger box, to her, "I got you something."

Meldy looked at the box, a bright, red and white strawberry cheesecake inside, with great confusion, suspicion, and surprise. "… What is it?"

"Something I hope you like."

"I see…" Meldy answered slowly, uncertain how to respond. After several silent moments of thought, she answered unsurely, "Thank… you…"

Natsu grinned happily. "Cool! Well, hope ya enjoy it!"

"Right…" she answered slowly as he leapt away before looking down at the box and frowned. 'Why…? Why would he get me this…?'

Natsu sighed lightly as he walked back into the guildhall and noticed Ur and Ultear sitting at a table, just the two of them, separated from the other members. "Huh?" he muttered in thought before walking towards them.

"So…" Ur began slowly, tightening her hands around her mug slightly, "you really were alive all this time… I… I just can't believe it…" With a mirthless laugh, Ur added, "Wow… I'm such a horrible mother…"

"The blame isn't solely yours," Ultear argued.

Ur looked up at her, surprised.

"After you took me to those people, they… they told me you abandoned me there."

Ur stiffened in terror. "H – Huh…?"

"Though, before that, I have to know. Why? Why didn't you come back…? Just look, just check?"

Ur slumped and sighed heavily, regret and self-loathing coating her breath. "I… They told me you had died. That the medical procedure had failed and your magic… that it destroyed your body completely…"

Ultear remained silent, awed to hear such words.

Natsu stood some meters away, just listening to their conversation.

Ur's grip on her mug tightened to the point her knuckles whitened. "I am so sorry… I was just so distraught… So caught up in my own suffering that I couldn't think straight. You were my daughter, my only daughter… My pride and joy… To hear you had died because of the amount of mana you had inherited from me… It drove me to a dark place…"

Ultear sat silently, processing the words. "I… Well, as you can see, that was a lie." Another moment of silence passed before she continued, "They conducted… experiments on me."

Ur's eyes widened with horror.

"They did everything they could to test the limits of my mana…" tightening her fists with pain and anger, she added, "and of my body."

Ur tightened her body, unsure whether to reach out to her daughter or leave her be. "N – No… My poor baby…"

Ultear sighed and continued, "Eventually I managed to get out of that place. The first thing I did was attempt to find you. I spent a long time looking for you… But when I did find you… They were with you…"

Ur's gaze lowered with somberness and guilt. "Why didn't you come towards me then…?"

"I felt… jealous. I thought you'd replaced me with them… You looked so happy despite what I had gone through… I simply became angry… I wandered on my own for a long time and eventually found my way into the Council."

"So… that's how you joined them…"

"I was sent to observe the Galuna Island group when you were revived. And I… didn't know what to do, seeing you there. Unchanged from ten years ago."

"Well… why don't we try starting from the beginning?"

"I guess… that'd be a good place to start…"

Natsu, standing nearby with a wide grin, added, "I think that's a great idea!"

The two women flinched in surprise, not expecting to see the pink-haired teen standing nearby.

"H – Huh, Natsu?" Ultear asked in surprise and confusion.

Natsu waved weakly. "Sorry, I couldn't help listening."

"Oh…"

"You are her boyfriend," Ur started, "so you should probably learn this stuff too."

Ultear twitched an eyebrow. "He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend."

"But –" Ur began, only for her daughter to interrupt.

"No!"

"… Aaww…"

Natsu then blinked in thought. "Oh, hey, Ulchan, can I ask you about something?"

Ultear turned to him with a sigh and nodded. "What about?"

"It's about Meldy."

Ur immediately sat up and blinked. "Meldy?" With a gasp, she added, "You made me a grandma!?"

Ultear, her face bright red, argued vehemently, "NO!"

"I can't believe it!" Ur cheered, ignoring her daughter's objections. "I'm a grandma! Ooohhh, you have to show me her!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and put his hand up to about Meldy's height. "She's about yay tall, has pink hair, and green eyes."

"… Not your daughter, huh?"

"I've never mated with Ultear."

Ur sat silently, disappointed.

"I adopted her," Ultear explained.

"Ooohhh," Ur responded in supposed realization. "So, you two haven't done it but you adopted a kid. Where's the fun in that?"

Ultear groaned. "I adopted her."

"Oh…" Ur muttered in disappointment.

Natsu turned to Ultear and questioned, "Think she finally gets it?"

"I can only hope…" Ultear replied with a heavy sigh.

"So…" Ur began in consternation, "she's your and Natsu's adopted daughter.

Ultear face-palmed heavily.

After Ultear left the guildhall to submit her report, Erza gathered the group that would be traveling to Yamato.

Looking at the group, Erza remarked, "So, myself, Natsu, Elie, Bisca, Lucy, Julia, and Gray will be going on this trip?"

Natsu huffed and turned to Gray. "Why are you going, ice-brain?"

"Simple," Gray started with mild irritation. "I just wanna get away from Ur for a bit. She's been asking me a thousand questions about every little thing I've been doing for the past ten years."

"I think it's just because she cares about you," Lucy noted.

"Tch, well it's annoying. Plus… I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this. So this will help."

"Tch," Natsu hissed. "Stupid jerk."

"What was that…? You wanna go pointy?!" Gray challenged with a growl.

"Pointy?!"

Before the squabble could escalate, Erza grabbed both of their heads and slammed them together. "Enough!"

"Oi!" Julia growled. "Don't smash Natsu's head, Red!"

Erza merely ignored her demand. "Let us go. We will first head to Hargeon, and from there to Yamato's port city of Hip-Hop Town."

As the group made their way to their destination by boat, Natsu leaned over the side of the boat, green with illness and groaning heavily.

Julia stood beside him rubbing his back softly.

"Man…" Gray groaned, "it's hot here…"

"Don't even think it!" Lucy warned.

"Oh come on…"

As Julia rubbed Natsu's back, she noticed Flare standing nearby and swiped a flask from her waist, greatly irritating the redhead, before handing it towards Natsu. "Want a drink, Natsu?"

"Gimme!" Natsu exclaimed before taking the flask and gulping the contents greedily. "Pah! Ah! Much better!"

Gray noticed a jug of water hanging off of Natsu's rucksack and grabbed it. "Need… water…" He opened the jug and prepared to gulp the contents down, only for a loud shriek to emit from the water before it physically jumped from the jug. "Gah!"

The water from the jug landed and became Juvia, screaming fearfully. "No! Juvia doesn't want to get swallowed!" However, after a moment of standing she turned slightly green and ran to the edge of the boat.

Natsu handed her the flask, Juvia taking several large gulps.

"Ah… Thank you, Natsusama."

"Ahem!" Julia interrupted.

"Huh?" Juvia mumbled, turning to her.

"What are you doing here?"

Juvia grabbed Natsu's arm and argued, "Juvia couldn't stand being away from Natsu-Sama again."

Julia twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, not understanding the issue.

"I'm gulping her down," Julia snarled aggressively, causing the pale-skinned bluenette to shriek before Julia reached out to grab her.

"No!" Natsu argued, stepping between them.

"Why?!" Julia asked, confused and angry.

"She's my mate, that's why!"

Julia trembled lightly as she tightened her fists.

"Uh-oh…" Lucy muttered, "this doesn't look good…"

Julia's eyes began to well with tears as she trembled furiously.

"J – Julia…?"

"W – Was my love really n – not enough for you?" Julia asked desperately.

However, before Julia could speak another word, Erza whacked her on the back of the head.

"What was that for, Red?!"

Erza wordlessly grabbed Julia by the arm and dragged her away from the others.

Natsu merely blinked in confusion as he watched.

Away from the others, on the far side of the ship, Erza sighed and asked, "Is it your goal to make Natsu feel miserable?"

"H – Huh…?" Julia muttered in confusion.

"You automatically assume he has his mates to gain love from them."

Julia narrowed her eyes and huffed lightly.

Erza folded her arms and challenged, "Have you considered that he wants to share his love with them?"

Julia tightened her fists slightly, still remaining silent.

"Natsu's love is not so limited as to be applicable to only one person, he has enough for everyone. I had presumed the one who had grown up with him would know that."

Julia stiffened before gritting her teeth.

"You of all people should know Natsu is happiest when sharing affection with others, not when receiving it. As a result, I have been trying to surround him with as many people for him to share his affection with as possible."

Julia's eyes widened in realization.

"So what you were essentially about to do just now was tell him his happiness is irrelevant."

Julia sighed heavily and lowered her gaze. "That's not…"

"Now perhaps you can avoid getting so agitated."

Julia hissed in annoyance. "Fine. Just remember, I'm the Alpha Female here. You may be one of his first but I'm in charge!"

"No. Natsu is," Erza argued.

"I meant among his females, Red. And if I have to prove it I will."

"Land!" Natsu and Juvia both cheered as they stepped off the boat and onto the shores of Yamato.

"Oh how I missed you!" Natsu exclaimed.

Elie stepped up to the two and looked around at the rather dingy port city ahead of them. "So this is Hip-Hop Town?"

"Seems like it," Bisca replied.

Elie glanced to the side and noticed a tall, light-adorned building sticking above the others. "They have a huge casino! I'm going to go win us some cash!"

"No, I will!" Erza insisted.

"PUUN!" Plue shouted.

Natsu immediately turned and saw a man in a red blazer running away, holding Plue. "Hey! Give him back!"

"No way!" the man shot back before jumping on a motorcycle.

"He's getting away!" Juvia shouted as he drove away.

"After him!" Lucy insisted.

Natsu and the others pursued the man but after several minutes, the crowded streets made tracking him difficult.

"Dammit! Where'd he go!?" Natsu shouted angrily.

"No idea," Bisca answered with a sigh.

"Do not worry, we shall find him," Erza eased.

Elie shrugged and then stated, "Well I'm going to go win us some money while you guys look."

Erza, as if having a switch in her head flipped, turned to Elie and added, "I will too."

Natsu twitched an eyebrow but then paled in fear. "Oh boy…"

"What?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Erza has an… interesting history with casinos."

"Same with Elie," Bisca added.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion.

"Don't ask," Gray insisted. "Let's look for Plue."

In a dark room with several screens providing scant light, a man sat in a large chair as two others stood behind him.

"You said the Rave Master has appeared?" the man asked as he held a purple gem in his hand.

A tall, muscular, blonde man with a red left eye answered, "Yes, Lord Shuda. His description matches the one Master Jegan gave."

A short, rotund, purple-haired man with glasses over his eyes chortled deviously. "Kukuku, and he has a bunch of pretty girls with him… This will be oh so fun!"

"Keep those ideas of yours under control, Pusha," the tall man chided.

"Tch, you just don't get it, Rugas."

Shuda sighed and asked, "You said he's in Hip-Hop Town?"

"Yes, sir," Rugas answered.

"Let Georco know. We'll head there immediately on Rhapsodia."

"Argh!" Elie growled as she sat at the roulette table. "Damn it!"

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked as she sat next to Elie.

"This never happens! I never lose like this!"

"Let me see," Erza insisted as she stepped up next to Elie. She stood silently as Elie played another round before suddenly drawing a sword on the dealer.

"H – Huh…?" the man muttered in surprise and worry as he began to sweat.

"You are using magic to manipulate the ball," Erza challenged angrily.

A figure sat nearby, intrigued by Erza's sudden and brazen action.

"N – No I'm not…" the dealer argued weakly.

Erza lowered her blade and then pulled a small, blue stone out of her pocket.

Elie blinked in thought and nodded. "Uh, right."

The figure sat silently, an amused smirk on her face.

Elie played another round, Erza watching the dealer closely. After a moment, the dealer's fingers twitched lightly and the stone in Erza's hand lit up brightly.

"Caught you," Erza challenged with a smirk.

The dealer hissed in annoyance and then snapped his fingers, causing several men to show up and grab Erza's arms.

"You're gonna have to come with us, Missy," one of the men growled.

"I think not," Erza argued before pushing the men away and leaping into the air, two swords appearing in her grasp.

Elie also stood with a growl and pulled the tonfas from her waist.

"Dammit!" the dealer growled. "Get them!"

"I want my money!" Elie howled as she began firing shots throughout the casino, the shots exploding on impact.

Erza landed and swung her swords at the two grunts that tried to grab her before turning as more entered the main area of the casino. With a smirk, she noted, "I suppose the time for play is over."

The figure stood with a smirk, revealing herself to be a young woman with long, straight, black hair tied in a braid starting halfway down and ending with a fluffed ponytail and bright blue eyes, wearing a small, white top with red accents that tightly hugged her rather large bust, a small brown jacket, shoulder-length, blue, fingerless gloves with large green gauntlets over top, white shorts with red accents, thigh-high blue socks, and brown boots that matched her jacket. Smashing her fists together, the woman shouted with a grin, "Well if you're all gonna crash the place, I might as well join in the fun!" Almost immediately, she slammed her fist down, causing a shock wave to jolt through the building.

Outside, Natsu and the others stood in front of the casino, waiting.

"They've been in there a while," Gray noted with annoyance. "Let's g –"

He was cut off as the building suddenly exploded.

"Huh," Natsu hummed lightly. "That took longer than I expected."

"Eehh?!" Lucy screamed in disbelief.

"Let's go," Bisca insisted with a sigh.

"Aahh…" Elie sighed with relief as she, Erza, and the third woman exited the ruins of the casino. "I feel much better now."

"Indeed," Erza agreed.

"H – Holy crap…" Lucy muttered in shock.

"So what set you off this time?" Bisca asked.

"The dealers were using magic to manipulate the games," Erza explained. "And they attacked us when we exposed them."

Natsu raised an eyebrow but then noticed the black-haired woman with them. "Uh… who's the pretty girl you two befriended? Is she the casino's manager?"

Elie glanced at the woman and then shrugged. "No clue. She just joined us in bangin' up the place."

The woman grinned and then extended a hand with the victory sign. "You can call me Kanami the Great!"

Natsu folded his arms incredulously. "… What's so great about you?"

"Well my rack for one. For two, I'm the greatest Adventurer there is. And I'm the ex-guildmaster of Debauchery Tea Party. Sorta."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "Well, your rack is definitely good, but it's not great. Don't know what's so special about being an adventurer. And that last one sounds more like an orgy set up by Mira and Erza."

Kanami folded her arms in thought. "Huh, that's what Ashura said too."

"Who's Ashura?" Happy asked as he walked up to the busty ravenette.

"Nazuna's boyfriend. He actually looked a lot like your pink friend though. Except he was a little… taller."

Lucy narrowed her eyes in thought before she gaped in disbelief. "W – Wait… when you said Adventurer… you didn't mean… one of those Adventurers, did you…?"

"One of what adventurers?" Natsu asked, not understanding the topic.

Kanami grinned proudly. "Yup, I am. Main class Monk and subclass Chef."

Lucy immediately squealed with excitement.

"Uh-oh," Happy muttered as he tugged on Natsu's pantleg, "Lucy's being weird again…"

"Zip it, cat!" Lucy snarled. "You don't even realize the kind of greatness we're standing in front of! She's an Adventurer! The immortal warriors summoned over two hundred years ago!"

Natsu tilted his head in bewilderment. "… Heh…?"

Lucy sighed heavily. "Don't you ready history? Two hundred forty years ago, the nations of all the world were close to becoming overrun by monsters, so a group of really powerful wizards used an extremely powerful spell to summon the Adventurers. They're immortal warriors. Just one Adventurer is strong enough to take on an entire guild. Plus if they get killed in battle they come back to life almost immediately at a church. Or was it cathedral?"

Natsu tapped a finger in thought. "… I think Igneel told me something about that once, but… You sure that one about their strength is true?"

Kanami answered his question by punching Natsu in the abdomen, sending him flying through several walls.

Natsu stepped out shakily before grinning widely. "Now that was something!"

Kanami responded with a grin of her own. "How'd ya like that one!?"

Gray sighed heavily. "Great, another stupidly strong idiot."

Natsu slammed his fists together with a smirk. "I'll show ya how much by givin' ya one back!"

"Su –!" Kanami began before suddenly stopping and putting a hand to her ear. "Hello?"

Natsu blinked in confusion. "Huh…"

Kanami sighed, putting a hand on her hip. "No, Nazuna, I haven't found him. Yes, I know it's been over a year. Stop calling me when you're drunk." She suddenly flinched and pulled her hand away from her ear before sighing.

"Hey! Who ya talkin' to?"

Kanami turned back to Natsu. "Oh, sorry about that. Just a friend of mine. Haven't you ever used the chat system before?"

"The… what…?"

Kanami blinked in confusion before glancing up slightly. "Ah… you're People of the Land, aren't you?"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? We live in a ci – wait, they," Natsu emphasized, pointing at Lucy, Erza, and the others, "live in a city. Me and Happy living in the forest, so we do kinda live on the land. And me and Igneel lived in the mountains when I was a kid."

"That's not… Nevermind. So, what're you people up to?"

Natsu then pulled out the broken section of Decaforce. "We're here to try and get Deca fixed."

Lucy slapped him on the head lightly. "And we need to find Plue!"

"Oh yeah! That creepy guy kidnapped that dog thing!"

"Speaking of," Gray interjected, "while you two were busy in the casino, we found something out."

"And what might that be?" Erza asked curiously.

"Demon Card has almost this entire nation under their control."

"That is not good. I knew they were the largest and most powerful Dark Guild, but I did not know it was this bad."

"Oh just great…" Lucy groaned.

"Let's just find Plue and get out of here," Elie noted.

"I'm afraid it won't be that simple," Kanami interjected.

"Why not?" Natsu asked.

"Entering the town is free. Leaving costs money. About five hundred of the local currency, Edels."

"What?" Erza snarled. "That is ridiculous!"

Gray nodded. "Yeah, well the town is so full of Demon Card creeps that busting out wouldn't be easy."

"Well I guess we should find your dog first, huh?" Kanami asked.

Natsu nodded.

"The guy who took it, was he a weird guy on a motorcycle?"

"Yeah!" Natsu answered loudly.

"Then he probably went for the dog racing stadium."

"Let's go look there then."

"Uwah!" Juvia suddenly shouted.

"Juvia! What's wrong?"

"Natsu-Sama! Look at that big screen!"

Natsu turned and looked at a large television screen over a wide stadium, showing Plue in amongst a large group of dogs, being forced to race via robots, traps, and various other weapons. "What the hell?!"

"Smart bug!" Elie cheered. "If he wins that race, we'll make big money!"

"If he survives, you mean," Bisca added.

"Well why don't we just crash it?" Kanami suggested with a shrug. "They're mean people who hurt those dogs. If I knew who the guy that runs the place is, I'd beat his face in."

Natsu grinned. "I like the way you think! And if we trash enough maybe the big guy in charge will come out!"

Gray groaned in frustration. "Great… so they're bot colossal idiots."

Julia smacked her fists together with a grin. "'Bout time we got a chance to fight! So let's go and burn everything down!"

As the group approached the stadium, it's large stone walls extending high, Natsu growled in annoyance. "Guess there's only one way in." Almost immediately, Natsu began scaling the stadium's walls.

"You can't be serious…" Lucy groaned.

"He definitely is," Kanami added. "Come on, let's head in."

The others nodded in agreement.

Natsu reached the top of the wall and watched as floating machines dropped large spears down on the racing animals, skewering some of them. Hissing, Natsu grabbed one of the signboards on the wall's peak and ripped it off, stomping a foot down on it and riding the piece of metal swiftly down the stairs of the colosseum into the main area before landing on the track and grabbing Plue.

One of the guards standing overhead growled and shouted, "Stop him!"

Suddenly, a door near the track opened and a large number of men in red and purple outfits walked out.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the emblems on their shoulders. "Demon Card…" Setting Plue down before his fists alit in flames, Natsu then charged at the oncoming group of soldiers. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Sending a punch forward, the flames exploded outwards, knocking the soldiers back.

As Natsu fought, Lucy, Erza, Kanami, and the others entered the stadium and saw him fighting the soldiers.

"The hell is he doing!?" Gray bellowed.

"Being Natsu," Julia countered.

Elie then pulled out her tonfa blasters and shouted, "You jerks will pay for hurting Plue!" before opening fire on the Demon Card soldiers below.

Erza sighed. "Well, since I doubt stopping them will work, we may as well join them."

"Yep!" Kanami smirked as she jumped down with the others into the group of soldiers.

Gray jumped down and slammed his fist into his open palm. "Ice-Make: Cannon!" A large cannon made from ice then appeared on his shoulder which he aimed and fired at the group of soldiers.

Three of the soldiers lunged at Julia. She smirked before flames coated her arms. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" She swung her arms up, causing long, wing-like trails of flame to extend from her fists, before slamming them back down, crushing the three soldiers with trails.

Kanami smirked before swinging a fist forward. "Demon Fist!" A burst of energy then emerged from her fist and shot at several of the soldiers, knocking them back.

Erza Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent several swords at the incoming solders, before the sword returned and formed a wide ring. "Circle Sword!" she shouted before the ring of swords began spinning swiftly and surged forward, taking out over a dozen soldiers at once.

Kanami ducked under a swing from one soldier, sent him flying with a punch, and then immediately turned around and slammed her fist into the face of another before kicking him away, knocking down two more soldiers at the same time.

Natsu and Julia then stood back to back and grinned, both taking in a deep breath.

"Get down!" Erza shouted, prompting Lucy, Kanami, Elie, and the others to drop to the ground.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu and Julia shouted in unison before exhaling massive jets of flame that shot in all directions, taking out the remaining soldiers.

As the flames died down, Natsu sighed in annoyance. "Okay… that's all of 'em."

However, before Natsu and the others could leave, a very short man, with his hair hidden under an absurdly tall hat with Demon Card's emblem on it and his eyes hidden behind thick, black sunglasses, along with a maroon overcoat with fur lining, and pointed shoes, he also held a long cane, walked out onto the track with a wide grin. "Yo dawg," the man began with a thick accent, "your dawg, er, dog, is a big money pot. So put'im back or I'll put you down, dawg."

Natsu hissed in annoyance. "Not a chance, top hat."

"The name's Georco, dawg." Georco then raised a hand towards Natsu's group. "And if you ain't gonna quit it, then you gotta face Smoke Bay, dawg! CO Heaven!" Suddenly, thick purple smoke shot out of his sleeves and surrounded Natsu and the others.

"Wh – What the hell…?"

Georco's grin widened further. "You like it, dawg? My Dark Bring shoots out pure carbon monoxide. It's extremely poisonous, dawg. So now, y'all go to heaven!"

"C – Crap…" Erza cursed in frustration as she began coughing.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted before growling and turning to Georco, throwing a punch at him, only for the man's body to dissipate into smoke.

Georco laughed loudly as he flew around Natsu, spreading more smoke. "You can't hit me, dawg!"

"Natsu…" Lucy called out, coughing violently, "carbon monoxide is… flammable…"

Natsu smirked and then encased his hands in flames.

Georco grinned and wagged one of his fingers. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you ignite my smoke, you'll kill them too."

Bisca weakly raised her pistol and aimed at a silver necklace with a purple jewel hanging around Georco's neck before firing, knocking the ornament off of him.

"Wh – What the…?!" he shouted as his body reverted from its smoky form and he fell to the ground.

Plue saw the jewel lying on the ground and stepped over to it, pecking it with his nose, causing it to shatter, resulting in the smoke quickly dispersing.

"N – No… my Smoke Bay…!"

Natsu then walked up to Georco and cracked his knuckles.

With a gulp, Georco pleaded, "Have mercy… please…"

Natsu immediately knocked the man unconscious with a blow to the face before immediately turning and running to Erza and the others. "Hey! Are you alright?!"

Erza coughed as she sat up. "I am alright. But we need to get out of here before more Demon Card members show up."

Natsu nodded in agreement before helping Erza to her feet.

As the others spoke, Plue rushed over to the cages where the other dogs were being kept and opened the cages.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Bisca urged before Plue showed up with a large cart being pulled by the racing dogs.

"Good job Plue!" Lucy complimented before she and the others jumped into the cart and exited the arena.

"Let's get out of here!" Natsu cheered as the cart left.

As the group rode in the cart headed out of the city, Natsu sandwiched between several rather ample cleavages, Lucy sighed in relief.

"We're almost out of the city," Lucy noted with a smile.

Gray narrowed his eyes and then hissed. "Shit, Demon Card blockade!"

"Turn Plue!" Natsu shouted, though slightly muffled.

Plue pulled hard on the reins to the dogs, unfortunately he pulled so hard the reins snapped, causing the cart to veer to the side wildly before falling down a large hole into a sewer.

Natsu groaned as he sat up. "Anyone hurt?"

"Ow…" Lucy moaned as she sat up, "my butt hurts…" She then immediately lifted her skirt slightly to ensure she had not landed on Natsu again, sighing in relief when she saw he was not there. She then turned red when she realized he was sitting directly in front of her.

"Huh. Black lace today?"

"Kya!" she shrieked before slapping him hard in the face.

"What was that for!?" Natsu demanded, a bright red hand mark on his face.

"Shush," Gray suddenly interrupted. "Someone's coming."

On the ground above, Rugas and Pusha walked into the alley where Natsu and the others had gone down.

"Are you sure you heard voices?" Rugas asked.

"Of course I am!" Pusha argued. "I'd never mistake the voice of a pretty girl!"

"You're an idiot."

"I am not! I swear I'll find the Rave Master and beat him up! Then I can get promoted to general and make Lady Reina my girlfriend."

Bisca, in the sewer below, scowled angrily and cocked the hammer on one of her guns.

Rugas looked around curiously. "Hm? What was that?"

"Probably just your mother calling," Pusha muttered with a sneer.

"I was made in a factory, I have no mother."

"Isn't your mom the factory arms?"

Rugas put a hand on his chin in thought as the two walked away. "Hm… you may be right."

Back underground, Natsu stood, holding Bisca back with one arm and holding a hand over her mouth with the other. "Calm down!"

However, Bisca struggled in his grip.

"Okay," Gray noted as he looked up out of the hole slightly, "they're gone."

With a sigh, Natsu released Bisca, who immediately turned to him and shouted, "Why'd you stop me?!"

"What are you getting so excited about?" Elie asked in surprise at Bisca's sudden surge of emotion.

"That jerk needs to have his head blown off!"

Natsu frowned in worry. "What's got you so angry?"

"He's threatening my sister!" Bisca suddenly blurted out before stiffening.

The others all stood silently for several moments as they processed the information.

"S – Sister?!" Elie shouted in disbelief, breaking the silence.

Bisca sighed heavily before answering slowly, "… Yes…"

"Your sister's in Demon Card…?" Gray asked in shock.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Well that's… a new one…" Natsu commented.

Suddenly, the pile of rubble nearby began to shake before a person with blonde hair hidden by a construction helmet and blue eyes wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit with brown boots stood up from it.

Natsu pointed at the person in surprise. "And that's another new one."

"What the…?" Gray muttered in confusion.

"Are you guys escaping from Demon Card?" the blonde asked.

Natsu nodded in agreement.

"Then that means you must be the group that caused that ruckus at the stadium."

Lucy laughed weakly. "Yeah… that's us…"

Natsu growled lightly. "They tried to shoot my dog."

With a nod, the new blonde stated, "The name's Hole, and it's my job to help people escape from the city past Demon Card."

"That's great and all, but I have a question," Gray interjected.

"And that is?"

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Hole twitched an eyebrow and then removed the helmet, causing blonde hair to fall to the shoulders.

Elie then bopped her fist into her hand. "Ah-hah! I've got it! You're a boy pretending to be a girl!"

Hole twitched an eyebrow and grabbed the nearest set of hands, those being Natsu's, and pressed them against the jumpsuit's chest.

Natsu nodded. "She's a girl. Huh, nice size too."

Gray twitched an eyebrow lightly with slight jealousy.

Releasing Natsu's hands, Hole then urged, "Come on, I can get you guys outta here."

Natsu grinned happily. "Great! Thanks Ms. Hole!"

Hole then proceeded to lead the group through a winding series of underground tunnels.

"Whoa…" Lucy mumbled in surprise, "did you dig all these tunnels yourself?"

"I did," Hole answered simply.

Natsu huffed lightly. "Virgo digs just as well."

"What's Virgo?"

"My maid," Natsu answered plainly.

Hole furrowed her brow in thought. "Your maid digs tunnels? I thought it was usually the master who does the spelunking."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

Hole sighed and waved a hand. "Just a joke." She then stopped and pointed down a different tunnel. "This way."

"I don't get it…" Natsu commented with disappointment.

Bisca sighed and patted his head lightly. "It's not important."

Eventually, the group reached the end of a long tunnel with a ladder at the end. Moving to the ladder, Hole pointed up and explained, "Okay, up this ladder and you'll be beyond the perimeter of the city. Let me check it first." She then began climbing up the ladder.

"Sure you'll be okay?" Natsu asked.

Hole turned to him with a smirk. "I've done this a million times. I'll be fine."

Natsu frowned unconvinced but nothing to stop her from climbing.

After a moment, the group then heard a loud scream from above.

Exiting out of the manhole leading from underground, Natsu and the others saw Hole being held hostage by a tall man with tanned skin, spiky red hair that jutted upwards sharply and bright red eyes wearing a sleeveless brown shirt, blue pants, brown boots, and a long, white coat with light brown fur draped over his shoulders.

Natsu snarled and demanded, "Oi retard! Let her go!"

The man smirked and then tossed Hole to the side, to the waiting Pusha. "So you must be the new Rave Master."

Natsu tightened his fists and retorted, "And you must be a Grade-A asshole."

The man chuckled lightly. "My name is Shuda, I am one of Demon Card's Oracion Six."

"Oracion Six?" Elie muttered in confusion.

"Demon Card's most elite and most powerful members," Shuda explained.

Natsu smirked in amusement as he raised his fists. "Oh really? Then kicking your ass should be fun."

Shuda huffed in derision. "I'm not like Jegan. I won't lose like him and his obnoxious pet."

Natsu scowled angrily. "Julia's no one's pet!"

Shuda merely smirked in gratification. "Whatever. The opinions of people like you are irrelevant. Fall to my Dark Bring, Valsyar Flames!"

Natsu's scowl quickly turned to a confident grin. "Oh you'll be easy!"

"We'll see about that." Shuda then snapped his finger, causing Natsu to be completely covered in swirling and writhing flames.

However, Natsu immediately swiftly devoured the flames, dissipating them.

Shuda's eyes widened momentarily. "What the…?"

Natsu smirked before his fists were encased with flames. "Guess Jegan didn't tell you much, did he?" He then charged towards Jegan. "I eat flames!"

Shuda hissed before drawing a sword hidden under his coat.

Natsu's fist slammed into the sword but Shuda managed to block the blow, punching him in the abdomen and sending Natsu skidding back.

Natsu watched as Rave fell from his pocket as he slid and grabbed it. He then saw Shuda swinging his blade at him and immediately turned, punching at Shuda.

Shuda snarled and raised his arm to block the punch, only for Natsu's fist to collide with the bracelet on his arm and explode, destroying Valsyar Flames and sending Shuda flying back with a burnt arm.

Natsu grinned. "Awesome!"

Shuda growled angrily and gripped his singed arm. "Fall back!"

Almost immediately, a wide, circular, floating ship appeared in the sky, a ramp descending that Shuda, Rugas, Pusha, and the gathered grunts began to walk up.

"Let me go!" Hole demanded as she attempted to get free of Pusha's grasp.

Pusha merely laughed perversely. "No way! You'll be my girlfriend!"

Natsu snarled and lunged forward, jumping right in front of Pusha's face. "Let her go!"

"Wh – What the…?!"

"Fire Dragon Exploding Fist!" he shouted before punching Pusha with the hand holding Rave, producing an explosion that sent the rotund man flying and releasing Hole from his grasp. "Hole! Are you alright?!"

Hole immediately grabbed onto Natsu, trembling lightly.

"H – Hole…?" Natsu muttered in surprise.

"… Th – Thank you…" she offered slowly.

Natsu blinked in thought before smiling and hugging her lightly. "Don't mention it."

Julia sighed and put a hand on her hip. "This is how he gets them, isn't it?"

"Bingo," Bisca retorted.

Julia sighed before scratching her neck in thought. "Well… I guess I'll just have to accept it then."

Bisca chuckled lightly. "You certainly can't stop it. He's too nice."

Julia smirked lightly. "Yeah. And too caring."

Natsu pulled away from Hole slightly and asked, "You alright, Hole?"

"Y – Yeah," she answered as she stepped away and picked up her hardhat. "Thanks. I should probably head back. There are always people who need help escaping from Hip-Hop Town."

Natsu frowned incredulously. "But what if you get caught again?"

Hole waved a hand dismissively. "That's the first time in three years I've been caught. And besides, Shuda was once a member of the Oracion Six, so he's a special case. Georco is probably the worst we get around here, and he was too stupid to figure out where I was. So I'll be fine."

Natsu's unconvinced frown deepened. "But… If you do get caught, it'll be bad. Really, really bad. Dark Guilds don't do nice."

Hole smiled happily. "Thanks for worrying, but I grew up in this city. I don't like seeing Demon Card wreck it like this, so I like to sock them where it hurts any way I can."

Natsu remained silent, trying to think of ways to convince her against it.

Julia stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think she's going to give up, Natsu."

Natsu sighed heavily. "Fine…"

Hole smiled before walking up to Natsu. Leaning up, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek before heading back to the manhole and jumping back into it, disappearing into the shadows.

Lucy twitched an eyebrow lightly.

Gray folded his arms with a sigh. "Now to find Punk Street."

"Punk Street?" Kanami asked.

Natsu nodded. "We're looking for that blacksmith, Musica."

"I don't know where that is exactly, but I think I know someone who can help."

"Really?!"

Kanami nodded. "Yeah. Shiroe. He used to be in Debauchery Tea Party with me, he lives in the city of Akihabara right now. If we go to him I'm sure he can direct us to this Punk Street place."

"Then let's go!"

The group spent several days traveling northeast through dense forests until they reached the edge of a large, stone city, much of which was covered in overgrowth.

"Is this… it?" Lucy asked with worry.

Kanami grinned happily. "Yup! This is Akihabara!"

"It's… interesting…"

"Come on, let's go. If we can't find Shiroe immediately I'm sure we can find someone who can help us look for him."

The others nodded and followed her through the large gate that marked Akihabara's entrance.

"This place has certainly seen better days," Julia noted as she looked around.

As they walked further into the city, Natsu noticed a tall woman with long purple hair that reached just below her waist, gold-brown eyes, and tall fox ears atop her head, wearing blue and purple armor that tightly hugged her impressive bust, outclassing even Erza's, along with a yellow sash looped loosely over her hips, a long white haori, dark blue gloves with red gauntlets overtop, as well as armored boots with platform heels.

The woman looked at Natsu curiously for a moment then turned to Kanami with a deep frown.

As the group approached, Kanami saw the woman and waved with a smile. "Hey, Nazuna!" However, after a moment, Kanami flinched slightly. "… Why are you glaring at me…?"

Nazuna, very annoyed, demanded, "Why didn't you tell me you found Ashura?!"

Kanami blinked curiously and then looked around in confusion. "Huh? I found him? When? Where? How?"

Nazuna then immediately pointed at Natsu.

Kanami tilted her head in befuddlement. "Uhh… that's Natsu."

"It's Ashura!" Nazuna insisted.

Kanami frowned lightly. "Are you drunk again…"

With a light hiccup, Nazuna argued, "Yes, but that's irrelevant. And I'll prove to you it's him!"

Julia snarled in annoyance. "He's Natsu, you drunk fox, not this Azura person you're talking about."

Nazuna huffed in annoyance. "He is Ashura you flamin' lizard! Kanami! You check his level! It's over fifty!"

Kanami tilted her head slightly. "Uuhh… no it's not. He's level forty-six."

Nazuna blinked in confusion. "… H – Huh…?"

Kanami then pointed slightly above Natsu's head, resulting in confusion from himself and the others.

Nazuna grumbled in frustration. "Then I'll help him get to, and over, fifty to prove me right!"

Kanami laughed weakly. "That's… not how this works…"

Natsu turned to Erza in confusion. "What's a level?"

Erza shrugged in equivalent bewilderment. "I have no idea."

"Yes it is!" Nazuna argued obstinately. "All we gotta do is make him face a few bosses! I need to –!" Nazuna then immediately fell asleep before finishing her sentence.

The others gaped slightly in confusion as a woman with wavy, honey-blonde hair tied back in a bun, her bangs hanging down and framing her face, chestnut eyes, and wears a pair of thin, frameless glasses over her eyes, along with a knee-length lavender and purple skirt-suit, and purple high-heeled shoes stood behind the now prone Nazuna with a hand raised before sighing.

Natsu walked up to Nazuna and poked her lightly with a confused expression. "Is she okay…?"

The blonde woman sighed, adjusting her glasses lightly, and answered, "Yes, I just put a sleeping spell on her. She'll wake up in a few hours."

Natsu stood up with slightly surprise as he looked at the woman. "Oh… So you know Sleep Magic? You related to Mystogan?"

"Sorry, I've never heard that name. Mine is Henrietta."

Natsu grinned friendlily. "Ah. Nice to meet ya! I'm Natsu!"

The group's conversation was interrupted as a new figure, a tall young woman with long, knee-length, wavy blonde-green hair, bright amber eyes, and long pointed ears wearing a long, green tunic with brown and yellow stripes that was open wide with a small black shirt underneath, exposing a fair amount of her voluptuous cleavage, blue pants, and brown boots came running towards the group with a wide smile.

Natsu gulped slightly as the woman's figure bounced alluringly.

"Kanami!" the woman exclaimed as she ran towards the group.

Kanami flinched slightly. "W – Wait, Marielle, you shouldn't r –"

Kanami's sentence was interrupted as the woman, Marielle, immediately tripped over nothing and slammed face first into the ground.

Happy walked up to the face-down woman and poked her curiously. "I think she's dead."

After a moment, Marielle sat up slowly and rubbed her nose in pain. "Ouchie…"

Natsu gulped lightly. "That's… kinda cute…"

Henrietta then motioned to the blonde as she stood. "By the way, this is Marielle, Guildmaster for the Crescent Moon Alliance."

"The what?"

"Our guild, the Crescent Moon Alliance."

Natsu frowned in confusion and looked at Marielle incredulously. "You're a guildmaster…? You don't look like one."

Marielle immediately fell to her knees, sobbing.

Natsu flinched in surprise and mild fear. "H – Hey! Why are you…?!"

Henrietta laughed weakly. "She can't handle criticism well."

"Ah…"

Marielle, wiping tears, turned to Henrietta. "That's mean, Umeko."

Henrietta twitched an eyebrow and whacked Marielle on the head lightly. "I thought I told you not to call me by my real name!"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Henrietta sighed as Marielle stood back up. "It's a little complicated."

"Huh. Okay. So…" he trailed off as he looked at the still-sleeping Nazuna, whom had since latched herself to Natsu's leg. "Is she always like this?"

Henrietta sighed and pulled the sleeping woman away from him. "Only when she's drunk. Which is an unfortunately large percentage of the time. She met this guy named Ashura about three years ago and they got into a relationship. But suddenly, about a year ago, he vanished."

Natsu tilted his head in thought. "Really? Huh… Why'd she call me that guy's name then?"

Henrietta shrugged in response. "I'm uncertain. My guess is that you probably resemble him to some degree. Though with her intense desperation to see him, she may think that of just about anyone. They were quite close."

"Guess she must be pretty heartbroken then," Lucy noted somberly.

Henrietta nodded before noting nonchalantly, "Well, you are People of the Land, so I suppose it's possible to have a few lookalikes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Henrietta waved a hand dismissively before redirecting, "It's nothing. So what brings you to Akihabara?"

"Oh right!" Natsu suddenly shouted. "We're trying to find someone, and Kanami-Chan said Shithead would help us."

Kanami blinked lightly before she began giggling, her giggles soon breaking into full-blown laughter. "Sh - Shiroe! Not… Shithead!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I thought you said his name was Shithead?"

Kanami managed to calm her laughter and shook her head in response. "No, no, it's Shiroe."

"Ah. Okay then."

Marielle then added with a smile, "Ah. I can show you where Shiroe is."

"Cool! Let's get going then!" Natsu replied with a wide smile.

Marielle led them deeper into Akihabara, the other various Adventurers looking at the gathered group with varying looks from surprise to annoyance.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he looked around before sighing. "Okay… so where is h –?" he began to wonder, stopping when he bumped into someone.

"M – My apologies," a small voice said.

Natsu turned and saw a petite girl with long, straight purple hair tied in a high ponytail, her flatly cut bangs hanging just above her matching purple eyes, wearing a sleeveless purple top with red, armored reinforcement, particularly around her petite bust, long, dark blue arm-warmers, brown pants with a blue sash-belt that hung loosely behind her, and tall, armored, black boots. Looking at the young-looking girl in thought Natsu nodded slowly. "Uh, sure. No problem, miss."

The girl looked at Natsu curiously and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Wait, I don't recognize you."

Natsu smiled and said proudly, "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

The girl straightened her posture and bowed to him. "Ah. Nice to meet you. I'm Akatsuki."

"That's a bit of an… odd name. Though, I guess it suits a cute girl like you."

Her face tinted lightly as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Uh, thanks…"

Henrietta, however, giggled perversely as she looked at the petite girl.

Akatsuki, seemingly on reflex, jumped up on Natsu's shoulders to escape the giggling woman.

Natsu blinked curiously as he glanced up. "Huh? What are you doing up there?"

"Come here, my little Akatsuki…" Henrietta said with perverse glee.

Akatsuki, still on Natsu's shoulders, pointed at Henrietta with a frown. "Stay away from me you freak."

"Huh," Natsu mumbled in thought. "Didn't peg her for a lesbian lolicon."

Henrietta then pulled a small dress, seemingly out of nowhere, and showed it to the unwilling Akatsuki. "Come on Akatsuki… You'll look so cute!"

"I said stay away!" Akatsuki argued as Natsu slowly back away from Henrietta. However, Akatsuki then lost her balance and slipped from Natsu's shoulders, pulling his vest with her and exposing his entire torso.

Marielle gaped as she looked at him before drooling slightly. "Such… muscles…"

Natsu gulped slightly. "Uh-oh…"

Without wasting another moment, Marielle then launched herself at Natsu, tackling him to the ground with a hug.

As the woman hugged and swooned over him, Natsu flinched lightly. "Suffocating… boobs…"

Nazuna ended up waking due to the noise nearby and saw Marielle hugging Natsu tightly. Growling, she yanked Natsu away from Marielle and hugged him into her own bosom. "Back off!"

Marielle pouted deeply. "B – But… muscles…"

"No! He was mine first!"

Natsu started turning blue from lack of oxygen. 'Th – This is… bad…'

Erza stepped in and pulled Nazuna away from Natsu.

"H – Hheeyy…" the fox-woman pouted, "give him back…!"

"There's certainly a lot of excitement here," a new voice commented.

The group turned and saw two figures approach.

The first was a tall man with short, slicked back, grey-brown hair, and similar grey eyes wearing thick, bulky, grey and blue-grey armor with a large shield on one arm.

The second was a man with messy blue hair, and dark blue eyes, wearing circular, half-frame glasses, a long-sleeved black shirt, grey gauntlets on his forearms, a brown leather harness over his torso, a brown belt with a large bag on one side, green pants, and matching shoes, with a long white cloak with a wide collar, held closed by a red and silver clip.

Kanami turned to the blue-haired man with a smile. "Ah, Shiroe!"

And finish! That does it for the ninth chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have a question about anything, let me know in a review and I will do my best to address it in a reviewer response. If you did not like the chapter, go ahead and post a review still, though I would recommend finding something you actually enjoy afterwards. That said, with this chapter done I await you at the next one! Bye-bye!